miss midas

i stitched this one up last night. i so loved the first "stay gold" piece that it did. and i was happy and sad at the same time to have had it sold off the wall at THIS. and then i thought to do it in metallic gold stitches. yes. i think i'm gonna have to put in another request for a custom-built whiskey and chocolate frame for this one, too.
(my beloved golden apc ballet flats are looking a little worse for the wear. booo! anyone have any suggestions on how to clean them?)

still reeling...

finally - a new piece added to the shop! "reel around the fountain" came up on my ipod shuffle yesterday and hearing those lyrics, i thought, "oh yes, that needs to be stitched." the color scheme is quite different from my usual, no? while stitching, i was looking at the colors and wondering how i decided on them - i came up with the story that the colors are very winnie the pooh -- pooh bear + bees..... maybe? really, i was looking for a new neutral. or just something different. anyways, i think it works for this piece. i like the photos i got of it for the etsy listing. (i didn't use this one of me in my slippers!) the new colors gave me new things to try with the photos. go check 'em out! (here)

sing my life

here are two more pieces that i sent on over to THIS:


(yes, you saw this one earlier -- but not in its finished frame!)

and then this one:


(this is a rather poor photo, but these pixies lyrics are done up in grey stitching on that blue-grey fabric that i love so much... mi piace.)
now, back to my prep for renegade los angeles this weekend!

let it go-go

here's another of the ones i completed in the last month in my push to have lots of work to show at THIS (this friday and saturday, peeps):


i actually started it a long long time ago... i did the border first, not knowing what i was going to put inside it... and then i heard the OK go song with these lyrics when my friend jonny posted this video to his facebook page. those words kinda stuck in my head and months later, i found a font that worked and poof - there it is. yep.

more newly framed pieces

here are three more done up in those beautiful frames that brian made for me:



i had stitched these a long time ago (see here and here) and then was having a difficult time finding good square frames in just the right size. and now, they're complete and i love the way they look -- that top one, especially. i have an extra one of these frames; i think that i'm going to stitch up another just like it and keep it for myself!

thanks johnny

here's a preview of one of the pieces going on over to the THIS gallery for the dec. 10th-11th show/sale:


it's one of my favourites, but then, i have a lot of favourites right now! my job tomorrow is to photograph them all....
with this unique, custom-made frame by my friend brian, of whiskey and chocolate, this piece is definitely one of a kind. it's kinda hard to think about giving these pieces up, but at the same time, i'm excited about it....
stay tuned; more to come.
(phew -- i originally published this post with the title of "thanks ponyboy" - but it was johnny who said it! really, i guess i should have titled it as, "thanks S.E. Hinton.")

guided by voices

i finished up and shipped this piece the other day:


phew! that one was epic. at 8 x 10, i think it's one of the most involved pieces i've done to date; i'm quite happy with it. it was stitched up as a custom order for an anniversary gift. the lyrics are from a guided by voices song (i think!) and donna, the thoughtful wife, and i worked together to come up with the layout/design. hooray!

waiting to be framed

the piece on the left was inspired by my recent cross country trip, where i even drove through or past the hometown of mister woody guthrie (in okemah oklahoma). i was so excited when i thought of the idea that i was nearly crying. (but then, this happens to me a lot.) i played with a lot of different fonts and styles an ultimately, settled on this one... i like how it looks very print-inspired. (i dont like how it took days longer than making a print would have...) the font has a westernish, old-timey print look to it, i think; like work that came out of hatch show print, in nashville, which i didnt get to visit on this trip, as they were closed at 8am on sunday, when we were there. i've been before though and certainly recommend a visit if you find yourself in the area -- very inspiring.
then the red one is a little play with new borders, and the dylan quote is one i've been meaning to stitch up for ages (thanks to karen for the encouragement on that one).

here

holy moley it's been a while since i've updated... sorry!
i took a real actual no-work vacation (it was fantastic!) and then it took me a few days to get back into the swing of things, and then i just got so busy that i couldn't take time to post. but lots of exciting things happened in those two weeks -- mentions on apartment therapy and daily candy, really cool custom jobs that i finished and sent out, upcoming shows, new work - i've got lots to show and tell and will do that sooner than later, i promise! stay tuned...

there is a light...

another custom-designed piece:


oh lala - i like it.
while i was working on it, i kept seeing it like one owl was telling the other owl, "take me out tonight (dammit)"

home of a different color

another custom-stitched piece ready to go out the door:


this was was stitched up for nicole, who's surprising her newly-married sister for her birthday. the blue was one of the colors that her sister used for her wedding and "home" was the last song of the night at the reception. what a thoughtful sis, eh?

going through customs

i've had a lot of custom orders lately, and i've spent the past couple of weeks busting through them.
here's one that i finished up this weekend:


not my usual color choice (it's pink with dark pink stitching), but i think it turned out well. i like how a custom request gets me to think outside of my comfort zone (although i do admit that i'm too much of an aesthetics snob to stray too far....).

jumble mumble

the letters are starting to pile up again:


nope. mosh wasnt the word i was trying to spell. but if you know my themes, you'll easily spot one of the intended words.
many more to go!

whoa, that's boss.*

i got an email today requesting that i stitch up another "show a little faith, there's magic in the night" piece.


this part of the story doesnt shock me too much -- i had just stitched up and mailed another one by request last week; that person had seen the original that i had done and posted on etsy (it sold pretty quickly...) and just asked me to make another.
the cool part of this story is that the woman making the request said that she saw the piece on a BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN WEB (fan) SITE! hahahahahhaha! holy crap. i didnt know such things existed. but then i never really thought about it. then i checked and found the link (here)-- it's totally rad!


i love the way my piece looks up there on that site! and i love the title of the site! and then, when i clicked on it, i see that lots of people "like" and reblogged it. super sweet. (see for yourself here.) i wish i understood tumblr -- then maybe i could "like" it too....

*("that's boss" is a saying my old pal roger rudd used to say a lot... he probably still does say it a lot. that roger rudd is a pretty swell fellow. he once shipped a bicycle all the way from seattle washington to my home in pennsylvania for me - because he saw it and knew i would love it and that it was actually small enough for little miss short legs to ride properly. what a guy!)

oh california

i've had several orders for this piece in the past couple of weeks:


interesting, interesting indeed i do believe.
anyways - i really liked this color request. (good idea, pollie!)
and now i am sooooo close to being caught up on all my orders and ready to jump into a new piece or two. hopefully i'll be posting again sooner than later...

looking back, looking forward

remember these?




i've been thinking of them often lately. i think it may be time to start stitching up letters again to make up some more photos like this...
sorry for the lack of posts lately. it's been a whirlwind couple of weeks and since i've been back on the west coast, i've just been stitching my little fingers off to catch up with the orders i've gotten since the design sponge post. phew!
also, though, i read (devoured) "extrememly loud and incredibly close" on my way back west and in the two or three days afterwards and it's kinda wrecked me! i couldnt put it down until it was finished and now it's weighing heavy in my heart... i love a story that can touch me like that but dang, i wish my heart werent so easily affected.
it's a bright and sunny day here in los angeles, though, and i'm feeling ready to get back into the normal swing of productivity!

family time

stitched this up for my sister and her husband:


it's their motto.

then four year old bella begged me to teach her to stitch -- all i did was thread the needle and show her how to go through the holes - she did this all by herself:


so awesome!

her drawings blow my mind.
these are the ones she's done on the chalkboard at the end of the hall over the past two days. the first is nani (my mama):


and this one is grand-nan (my grandmother):


wow.

unalone

this one just sold:


i stitched it up last week or so and didnt get around to posting it. i had seen the quote/line on some blog (i cannot for the life of me remember which; i'm sorry!) a few weeks back and it stuck in my head. i thought it'd make a good little piece. i'm happy with the colors -- so loving that platinum colored aida cloth these days! anyways, now it's off on its way to missouri; hooray!

max and the bears

i've just completed my first specially commissioned piece for a nursery:


i'm thrilled with it.
thank you, stacy and devin, for giving me the opportunity to stitch up such a sweet piece. they came up with the concept, (a little tweak on a line from "where the wild things are") and we worked together on the colors. this photo is pretty dark -- the stitching is blueish grey on a background of a light buttery yellowy ivory.
so sweet. i should have waited to get better photos, but i was just so excited to share this one that i couldnt wait for better light!

show a little faith...

...there's magic in the night.


my good friend dana had this as her quote or whatever on myspace or facebook for the longest time - and i loved that. then, the other night as i was standing in the checkout line at the grocery store, this song (thunder road, bruce springsteen - just in case you didnt know...) came on the radio and i got it in my head that i needed to stitch it. so i came right home and plotted out the pattern. and then stitched it. ta-da! i did it more just kinda for the heck of it, rather than as something that i wanted for myself. so i went ahead and listed it in my etsy shop. if you want it - go on and get it!